Westside, Long Beach, CA

Westside is the old working side of Long Beach, across the Los Angeles River and the 710 from the rest of the city, where blocks of small houses and apartments share the grid with the industrial yards that serve the port. Santa Fe Avenue is its main street and the easiest way to understand the place. Homes on the Westside are mostly modest, older single-family houses and small apartment buildings, with auto shops, warehouses and metal fabricators a block or two away. Some streets are fully residential, and others mix houses with industry. Silverado Park at 32nd and Santa Fe is one of the busiest parks in the city, with an enclosed pool, a gym and weight room, tennis courts and a mini skate park. Admiral Kidd Park, 12 acres between Hill and Willard streets, has a walking path marked in miles. Hudson Park and Tanaka Park fill in the gaps. Santa Fe Avenue and Willow Street carry the food, and the Filipino places are the strongest thread. Tambuli Supermarket on Santa Fe stocks Filipino groceries, and Edna's Filipino Cuisine and Cuizina Filipino are a few doors away. Gemmae Bake Shop on Willow handles Filipino baked goods, and locals get their coffee at HeBREW Cafe on Santa Fe. Daily errands are close. Big Saver Foods on Willow and Tambuli cover groceries, and the Harte Neighborhood Library sits on Willow as well. The 710, 405 and the port are all minutes away, which makes commuting easy for anyone headed to the harbor or downtown. The tradeoff is the truck traffic and industrial edges that come with living next to the port economy. On the Westside the park and the avenue are where the neighborhood shows itself, with Saturday games at Silverado and lunch lines on Santa Fe.